I'm a pop culture geek, married to a non-geek, "normie" guy. I also like cooking and crafts. My own crochet patterns posted here. Please be respectful of my work and keep in mind that most of those crochet patterns have only been made once or twice. If you find a mistake, let me know. If you make something, please send me a link back.
If this blog still isn't enough of me for you, check Geek Crafts for even more of me on Saturdays under AmyLynn98, or find me on Twitter at @JediAmyLynn98.

Friday, June 14, 2013

I heard "New York State of Mind" on the radio last night and it started to transform into this version in my head.

Some folks like to get away
Take a holiday from the seven cities
Hop a flight up to old D.C.
Or out to the prairies
But I'm taking a Greyhound
On the Monticello line
I'm in a Hampton Roads' state of mind

I've seen all the hip hop stars
In their fancy cars and their limousines
Been high in the mountains in the Philippines
But I know what I'm needing
And I don't want to waste more time
I'm in a Hampton Roads' state of mind

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the sea, but I digress
'Cause now I need a little give and take
The Virginian-Pilot, The Daily Press

It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I'm gonna breeze through
Don't care if it's P-Town or in Riverview
I don't have any reasons
I've left them all behind
I'm in a Hampton Roads' state of mind

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the sea, but I digress
'Cause now I need a little give and take
The Virginian-Pilot, The Daily Press

It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I'm gonna breeze through
Don't care if it's P-Town or in Riverview
I don't have any reasons
I've left them all behind
I'm in a Hampton Roads' state of mind

I'm just taking a Greyhound on the Monticello line
'Cause I'm in a Hampton Roads' state of mind

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

I saw this on Cosplaying While Black this morning and thought I should share it here. The posting is from Pixie Belle and I'm running it here in it's entirety, as she wrote it. She recently appeared on the site, and at a con, as Lady Loki (this is a picture of her in costume on a pillow).

"Just thought I’d give a heads up to everyone at the con this year:

"If you got a photo with Image Solutions please read this:

"So since I wanted to talk about this. Apparently if you have ever taken photos with a photographer in image solutions…well…you’re a body pillow now. I found this horrible thing in the dealers room. Apparently it’s legal because it’s a “promotional item”. Since when did promotions gets
charged? All I can say is I wasn’t told these were going to be made when I SPECIFICALLY talked to him last year what he was going to do with the photos and I do not approve of it at all. He was selling these in the dealers room of the convention he took them at last year thinking the cosplayers would be okay with it. Obviously this man is beyond stupid. He had small pillows and larger ones too. When me, and two friends confronted him he had the AUDACITY to tell me that I was a popular seller, as if that would make me feel more comfortable about this. There were many others who had pillows made and every other person I talked to was disgusted with this.

"Be careful of his unsavory business tactics, and if you find out he’s selling you as a product, make sure to confront him and demand a physical copy of whatever crap he had you sign, Also, he doesn’t ask for ages when he does photos, so that being said, there is a chance that some of these photos are of underaged girls. Regardless, it’s shoddy, its horrible, and this guy needs to stop, or get his camera broken. (When I discovered my girlfriend on a pillow and a sticker set…I wasn’t too happy).

This is absolutely atrocious behavior.

Let’s get this moving around, this needs more notes.

how about no sir"

-------------------------

It's one thing to have your picture taken with a cosplayer at a con. I've never been to a con but I imagine I'd want some pictures taken with the attendees.

And it's one thing to snap random pictures of the cosplayers if you can't get in with them. I'd do that too.

But it's another dirty, underhanded thing to make money from them. Since this posting from Pixie Belle started the rounds, Imagine Solutions has announced yesterday they will stop selling the pillows.

"At our booth, we had pillows and prints of a few costumes that were
available for purchase. We were VERY selective with the ones we chose,
and out of the hundreds and hundreds of panoramas we have taken, only a
handful were used (about 10 of them). We chose the ones that we felt
were the best of the best and exemplified the spirit of the event.
Although each of the people we used signed a model release, some of
people were upset that we used their images. We did not mean to upset
people, and felt that people chosen would be flattered to be among the
few chosen...

"As a result, our business model has changed:In
the past, we were selling products with images of others as well as
custom-ordered prints of themselves. This was meant to inspire people to
elevate the level of their own costumes. We would like to assure
participants that any pictures of them that we have taken WILL NO LONGER
BE SOLD AT OUR BOOTHS OR AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. The products
will be available ONLY to those of whom the pictures were taken. Any
future products will be special-order so that the attendees will be able
to order prints and merchandise of themselves and themselves only. We
would like everyone to know that their privacy is of utmost importance
to us and that we did not intend to violate their privacy in any way."

Sunday, June 9, 2013

I felt the need for some more capris, as I had two pairs to rethrift myself, from having gotten a bit too small (they were always a little snug to begin with), so I hit Thrift Store USA today.

For $24.60, I picked up:

a pair of Dockers Womens striped pants that I'm going to turn into capris (the store didn't have any capris in my size)

a pair of lavender Lands End slacks that will also be turned into capris

a silky (rayon?) navy blue shirt, 3/4 length sleeves, in an Oriental design with fabric frogs for the closures. SO weird...I was just thinking as I was shopping how I'd like to score a great Oriental-type top, but in red, black and white. However, I think this will be a better fit on me than what I was envisioning.

a blue and white plaid shirt

a long 3/4 length sleeve shirt in lime green, that actually matches the design of a dress/turned skirt that my husband got me in Iraq years ago. All I needed to do to it to was remove the tie from the back. Even the tone of the green will match the khaki colored skirt.

a pair of fuchsia pointy toed pumps (I really shouldn't have bought shoes again. I bought two pairs of really nice wedge heels a few months ago and even tried them on in the store and they both fit. However, a few days later, one pair had turned foot chokingly small. I only got to try wearing them once. The other pair only got worn twice before the elastic on the strap and buckle broke.)

a pair of graphic Rouge Helium pointy toed pumps with a design that look like they are out of the 80's (with both pairs of shoes, I let some medicated foot powder sit in them overnight and wiped them down really good, inside and out)

and a BRAND NEW pair of my beloved Converse...they are the All Star brand and not my usual Chucks, but these are a beauty and the most expensive thing I bought today ($6.99)

A woman in the store saw these in my hands and said, "Hey those are cool! Can you accidentally drop them so I can pick them up and get them?" I added a pair of bright purple shoelaces from Kroger and they are complete. Even though they are new, I did run them through the washer one time first. I believe the green eyelet fabric is supposed to be frayed and stringy like that. I'm not going to trim them.

Good Geek Quotes To Live By

“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.”

--Simon Pegg

"Being a fangirl or a nerd means that you’re not afraid to love things. That’s what it really gets down to: a conscious decision to not let societal stigma tell you how appropriate your feelings are or are not."--Sara @ Fantastic Fangirls

"Wil Wheaton Says: Don't be a dick"--Wil Wheaton

"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."